The apse, from the Latin absis, meaning arch, appears as a semi-cylindrical or polygonal structure and is present in both public buildings and churches. Usually, in churches, it concludes the main nave, beyond the presbytery, or the two side aisles and symbolises the privileged place where the prese...

The Cathedral of Monreale was built at the behest of King William II. The entire monumental complex consists of the church, the Benedictine monastery and the royal palace. The cathedral is accessed through a portico of 1770 at the center of which is placed the portal with the bronze door of Bonanno ...

The apse, from the Latin absis, meaning arch, appears as a semi-cylindrical or polygonal structure and is present in both public buildings and churches. Usually, in churches, it concludes the main nave, beyond the presbytery, or the two side aisles and symbolises the privileged place where the prese...

The lava inlay ornamentation of Palermo Cathedral is characterised by a decoration with geometric or floral figures in lava stone, housed in tuff ashlars. This type of feature is present in the eastern front, specifically in the decorative bands of the arches and in the oculi positioned at the top o...

According to recent archival research conducted by scholar Géneviève Bresc, the construction of the southern portico is dated 1429. Previously, a date had been given, around the middle of the 15th century, during the Bishopric of Simone Bologna....

Born in 1237 to Peter III of Aragon and Constance, daughter of Manfred of Swabia, Frederick II signed the Treaty of Caltabellotta in 1302, putting an end to the Sicilian Vespers, becoming King of Trinacria with the proviso that upon his death the island would be passed on to the Anjou family. He san...

Ferdinando was born in Florence in 1699 to Antonio Fuga and Antonia Serravalli. He was first a pupil of Giovan Battista Foglini and then moved to Rome in 1718. In the capital, he had numerous assignments and was appointed Architect of the Sacred Palaces. His fame grew over time, so much so that he w...

Gualtiero, who can be seen depicted in a miniature of the Liber ad honorem augusti by Pietro da Eboli, was Archbishop of Palermo from 1169 to 1190. We do not know for sure the place and date of his birth: he was probably born in Sicily in the first half of the 12th century. He was erroneously and fo...

Gualtiero, who can be seen depicted in a miniature of the Liber ad honorem augusti by Pietro da Eboli, was Archbishop of Palermo from 1169 to 1190. We do not know for sure the place and date of his birth: he was probably born in Sicily in the first half of the 12th century. He was erroneously and fo...

These fortress-like buildings were characterised by their grandeur, thick walls and grandiose forms, so much so that they were an expression of the political centralisation of power and seemed almost like defensive fortresses. In Sicily, examples can be seen in the Palermo Cathedral, in the Monreale...